Editorial

Technically, the former "Gister en Vandag/Yesterday and
Today" journal will enter its 30th year of existence in 2011. However, officially
the publication ceased to exist in 1997 as a result of insufficient funding.
After a decade under the auspices of the "South African Society for History
Teaching", the "old" Journal was revived into a modern-day look, and renamed as
Yesterday&Today. Whereas the content of the previous publication was
mainly developed from the needs within the
fields of General Education and Training and Further Education and Training, the
2010 and beyond publications of Yesterday&Today has gradually shaken
off its "infancy" to include articles applicable to the teaching and learning of
history at all educational levels.

The main focus of Yesterday&Today's Editorial Board and
Editors is to publish articles that will promote and improve the teaching of
history (this includes knowledge of history and the methodology of history
teaching). Although the Editorial Board will from time to time publishes
articles with a contemporary or/and controversial theme, the Board’s intentions
are mainly to stimulate a variety of teaching approaches or/and perspectives on
the past, and not to take part in or promote debates favouring any group or
individual in South Africa's history. Yesterday&Today> is only published in
English, and all articles are subjected to a rigorously peer-reviewed process.

To acknowledge the large number of GET and FET educators, the Editorial Board
has further decided to also include a small percentage of praxis articles in the
journal, demonstrating not only an acceptable backing of knowledge but also
based on ample teaching experience. These articles will be known as "Hands-on"
articles. It is hoped that these articles, as well as those based on substantial
research, will each in its own right equip and provide history educators with
subject/discipline knowledge, the "know-how" and current research that will
increase their levels of competence. Such as the efforts of the pioneers and
founders of the Yesterday&Today journal, (from 1981
known as "Gister en Vandag/Yesterday and Today" and preceded by "Historia
Junior" up to 1980) the 2011 Editorial Board would like to see its efforts as a
team effort. Indeed a team effort to support creative and scientific research
and activities pertaining to the teaching of History.

In the October 2010 edition we are including a variety of
research and theoretical reflection on heritage and its practical application
inside and outside the formal history teaching environment. With the new FET
history textbooks in the process of being developed after the release of a Draft
Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document in September 2010, it is
more than appropriate to learn from the research findings of international
colleagues (supported by their students in the research) how the development of
textbooks are reviewed and assessed globally.

Although officially only five years old in its current format, the Editorial
Board of Yesterday&Today hope to annually
improve the quality and input of the journal as well as its own efforts to
ensure that the teaching voice of history at all levels of education are
coordinated and supported. Other major aims are among others to further expand
the journal's continuity and quality (by applying for journal accreditation) as
well as its availability (by expanding Yesterday&Today's current website and
hard copy access to open access through the SCIELLO platform).

Popp, Susanne(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

According to findings of textbook analyses since 2004 all across Europe, students encounter a group of about 15 historical paintings and historical photographs in their history textbooks which are shown more often than ...

Krige, Sue(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

This article focuses on the Electrical Precinct in Newtown as an example of industrial heritage in the centre of Johannesburg. The author makes the case that industrial heritage has been neglected in terms of what is deemed ...

Marwick, Matthew(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

The creation of a school museum offers an opportunity for a school and its broader community to celebrate the institution’s no doubt unique history and heritage, and to offer an “open book to the world” of its history, ...

Lubbe, Henriëtte J(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

This article highlights some of the challenges facing history teachers in designing and assessing heritage investigation projects in the Further Education and Training (FET) band and the need for teachers to be proactive ...

Van Eeden, Elize S(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

With the Internet so easily available nowadays, I decided (just for the fun of it but also out of curiosity) to do a Google search to see how many entries I could find for "heritage and history". In a split second no fewer ...

Haupt, P M(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

The writing of school histories is a neglected sub-discipline in the study of heritage. It is, however, imperative that this aspect of the broad tapestry of our local and national heritage is analysed and preserved. As a ...

Koekemoer, Michelle(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

On the 31st of May 2010, South Africa, as a geopolitical creation, had been in existence for a century; a momentous occasion for the country. However, the day passed with little acknowledgement of this event. The question ...

Van Wyk, Milton L; Carl, Arend E(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

This article focuses on the utilisation of the learner portfolio in the learning
area Social Sciences as an alternative, authentic assessment tool to demonstrate
the performance, progress and growth of learners in relation ...

Warnich, Pieter(The South African Society for History Teaching (SASHT) under the auspices of the School of Basic Sciences, Vaal Triangle Campus, North-West University, 2010)

Teaching heritage to History learners is imperative as an aid to help them
discover their uniqueness but also their commonalities. A sense of heritage
does not only contribute to a feeling of belonging and identity, but ...